Rodrigo Russo is an Associate Director in Control Risks’ Compliance, Forensics and Intelligence practice in Brazil, focusing on asset tracing, business intelligence and due diligence. Rodrigo leads the research team in a wide range of investigative projects in South America for multinationals, local companies and law firms.

Examples of Rodrigo’s recent projects include:

• Pre-investment reputational due diligence for a multinational company. The company sought to assess potential corruption risks related to sponsoring a think tank led by a high-level Brazilian politician. Rodrigo’s report provided the client with material information to support its decision based on a thorough analysis of publicly available documents, media articles and discreet source enquiries.
• Business intelligence for a multinational auto company. The client was interested in identifying assets to enforce the decision of an arbitration tribunal against a former business partner. Rodrigo led the efforts to map the shareholding structure used by the former business partner to defraud creditors; he also identified a series of fraudulent real estate transactions conducted by the former business partner’s controlling family that could be challenged in courts.

Prior to joining Control Risks, Rodrigo served as a Brazil-based senior correspondent for a global newswire, where his reporting focused on antitrust, corruption and data protection regulation and enforcement. Rodrigo worked as a journalist for almost a decade at Folha de S. Paulo, one of Brazil’s most widely read newspapers, where he was a correspondent based in Europe and an opinions editor. Rodrigo began his professional career as an intern at a top-tier Brazilian law firm.

Rodrigo holds a Master of Science in political sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was awarded a Chevening Scholarship. Rodrigo also holds a law degree from Universidade de São Paulo and a journalism degree from Faculdade Cásper Líbero. He is a native Portuguese speaker, speaks fluent English and has a working knowledge of Spanish and French.